Prince William goes undercover as a Big Issue in Westminster

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Prince William swapped his usual suit and tie for a red vest and cap as he went undercover as a Big Issue seller on the streets of London this week.

The Duke of Cambridge, 39, tried to keep a low profile as he sold magazines on Rochester Row, Westminster, yesterday but was spotted by eagle-eyed passersby. 

William, who has followed in his late mother Princess Diana’s footsteps in supporting a number of homelessness charities, happily posed for photographs with members of the public. 

When one man said he had ‘no change’, William whipped out a card machine so he could make a purchase. 

The royal, who spent the weekend celebrating his grandmother the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, was praised for the ‘silent gesture’ of charity by one man who stopped to chat, while others hailed the ‘humble’ royal for leading by example.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on Prince William’s Big Issue volunteering.

Retired Met Police chief superintendent Matthew Gardner was one of the first to share images of William selling the Big Issue on his LinkedIn account – and others quickly followed suit, posting pictures with the future King to Instagram.

Mr Gardner said in a post made yesterday: ‘My brother-in-law was in London today and saw a celebrity, so he took a photo at a distance. The celebrity saw the “covert surveillance” effort and crossed the road to investigate further.

‘What an honour to have a private moment with our future king who was humble and working quietly in the background, helping the most needy. These “silent gestures” often go unrecognised,’ he added.

He continued: ‘The finale to this unique occasion was when Prince William asked my brother in law If he wanted to buy the “Big Issue”, to which he replied “I have no change”. 

‘At this point William produced a mobile card machine… you cannot teach that! Priceless, or should I say ‘Princely’.’ 

The Big Issue is a magazine designed to give a helping hand to homeless people, with homelessness being a cause close to Prince William’s heart after his mother shared her passion with him for helping rough sleepers.

The Duke of Cambridge is patron of Centrepoint homeless charity and in 2020 revealed that he talks to his older children Prince George, now eight, and Princess Charlotte, now seven, about the issue of homelessness.

Speaking to Mary Berry for her Christmas special A Berry Royal Christmas, he said: ‘On the school run already, bear in mind they’re six and four, whenever we see anyone who is sleeping rough on the streets, I talk about it and I point it out and I explain why and they’re all very interested. They’re like: “Why can’t they go home?”‘ 

Mr Gardner’s LinkedIn post has been shared widely online, and many social media users have expressed their admiration for William, calling him ‘amazing’ for his efforts. 

‘Absolutely love the fact he is out doing this. What a wonderful gesture. What a king he will be one day,’ wrote one person on LinkedIn.

‘Inspirational! What fantastic role models for the next generation too,’ penned another, while a third wrote: ‘How many other members of the Royal family would do that? What a fantastic example… and very quick witted to get the card machine out!’

‘True integrity… doing the right thing when nobody is watching,’ said one person, while another individual simply wrote: ‘Brilliant.’

Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and their three children – which also includes Prince Louis, four, spent the weekend celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. 

Earlier this week, Prince William and Kate shared a glimpse inside their Jubilee celebration as they posted snaps offering a behind-the-scenes look at their ‘fantastic’ weekend online.

The Duke and Duchess took to their official Instagram page to share a number of photographs from events across the weekend, including images taken at royal events. 

In one snap, Kate can be seen waiting with George, Charlotte and Louis on steps of Buckingham Palace at Trooping the Colour. 

In another, Kate and William can be seen attending a street party in Kensington, just a short walk from her London residency of Kensington Palace, as they chatted with local attendees.

Meanwhile the caption hinted at the fun they’d had as a family over the weekend, reading: ‘We all had an incredible time, especially Louis…’.

Four-year-old Prince Louis stole the show at a number of royal events over the weekend. After wowing fans on the Royal balcony, he showed off his star power again while watching the fourth day of Platinum Jubilee celebrations last night. 

The caption read: ‘What a fantastic weekend of celebrations. Seeing people across the nation coming together with family, friends and loved ones has been extremely special.

‘Thank you to everyone who turned out to show their gratitude to The Queen and her inspiring 70 years of leadership.

‘From the crowds on the Mall to communities hosting street parties up and down the country, we hope you had a weekend to remember.’

The caption went on to hint at the fun the youngest Cambridge child had had during the event. Prince Louis wowed royal fans over the weekend and delighted crowds on Thursday as he stood next to his great-grandmother The Queen with his hands covering his ears amid the roaring cries of the public.     

Prince Harry will be ‘furious’ and feel like he is ‘owed an apology’ by the Royal Family after he and Meghan were ‘largely ignored’ during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, biographer claims

Prince Harry is likely to have felt ‘absolutely furious’ during the Queen‘s Platinum Jubilee – and could ‘want an apology from the royal family’, according to an expert.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex only made one public appearance at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, despite flying in from the US with their two children – Archie and Lilibet.

However, the Sussexes did meet the Queen – though their request for a photograph of Her Majesty meeting their youngest child for the first time was allegedly rejected.

Biographer Angela Levin, who spent a year with Harry, has now claimed the prince is likely to feel as if he is ‘owed an apology’ and was ‘largely ignored’ at the four-day celebration.

She added that the Duke of Sussex is allegedly ‘absolutely furious’ about the situation.

According to Ms Levin, it was clear Harry was unhappy when attending a thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on Friday.

She told The Sun: ‘The thing that really stood out for me on that day was Harry’s anger – he wears his emotions on his face and he looked absolutely furious.

‘I think it’s quite interesting really – he could have been feeling lots of things. I don’t know whether he had a wave of feeling at what he had given up.’

Ms Levin added: ‘I think he would have been very, very upset that he was largely ignored. He still feels he’s owed an apology.’ However, the royal expert said Harry is ‘the one who should apologise’.

She also claimed Harry and Meghan did not check Prince William and Kate Middleton’s schedule before inviting them to a birthday party for Lilibet at Frogmore Cottage.

At the time, Kate and William were in Wales with Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

It comes after Ms Levin told GB News that Netflix was keen to secure images of Harry and Meghan with royals like the Queen and Prince William for a documentary series they are filming.

It is notable that the Sussexes were reportedly told there was ‘no chance’ of an official photograph of the Queen meeting their one-year-old daughter Lilibet.

Palace insiders may have worried any photos taken by Harry and Meghan would be shared with TV networks in the US or in Harry’s upcoming memoirs. 

Speaking to GB News, Ms Levin said this image would have been ‘very, very valuable’, adding: ‘They would have used it for Netflix. It would give them a kudos that they had her with her great grandmother, you know.’

She said: ‘Harry and Meghan wanted to see the Queen as soon as possible so she saw them on the first day.

‘She went in, and then they asked if they brought their own photographer and they asked if he could take a picture of the two Lilibets and she said “no, absolutely not possible”.

‘Because they would have sold it. It would be very valuable, very valuable to them. 

‘Actually the palace was so clever and cunning that they never had a chance to be photographed with any of the senior royals.

‘I heard Netflix wanted these pictures of them with the royals, but they were sitting on the right hand side and the rest of them, Camilla, Charles, Catherine and William, on the other side.’

Ms Levin said she believes that after failing to get the images they wanted they ‘probably just went off in a rage’.

‘I think they felt that everyone would drop everything,’ she added. ‘Even on this amazing day because they were there, they’d come back.

‘I thought they were like petulant teenagers really. If they didn’t get what they wanted, they would leave and they left early.’

Ms Levin also criticised the pair for compromising their own security, despite suing the government over security concerns.

‘There he was in a car with black windows, so they were obliged with that so nobody could see who it was, and they opened the windows right down and started waving at the people,’ she said.

‘That was an indication to me that couldn’t be out of the spotlight, however, that is very dangerous, someone can throw a bomb in or a load of tomatoes in through the window.

She added: ‘And actually, they also flew back on a jet that cost £160,000 but that’s their business, but it put out ten times more carbon emissions than a normal plane would.

‘We’ve had them telling us all we mustn’t fly, we must be careful…we mustn’t let all this carbon emissions carry on – and there they are doing it themselves.’